Tobacco transferring machine



Dec. 10, 1940. P. J. HERRMANN 2,224,294

TOBACCO` TRANSFERRING MACHINE Filed NOV. 20, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet l Gttorneg P. J. HERRMANN 2224924 TOBACCO TRANSFERRING MACHINE `Filed Nov. 2o, 51937 4 sneets-snegt 2 nventor Gttorneg N N A M R ,R E H J P TOBACCO TRANSFRRING MACHINE' Filed Nov. 20, 1937 4 sheets-sheet :s

Smaentor Gttomeg N N A M R R E H l. R

TOBACCO TRANSFERRING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 20; 1937 nventor fam? oanneJ rrmamz' ttorneg Patented Dec. 10, 1940 UNITED STATES ronscco TaANsrERgnrNe iirncnrnsV Paul Johannes Herrmann, Dresden, Germany, as-

signor, by mesne assignments, to J. C. Muller N. V., Rotterdam, Netherlands Application November 20, 193.7, serial No. 175,602 In Germany November 27,1936

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in a tobacco transferring machine and. is adapted for use particularly in the manufacture of cigarettes by the rod method in which a eece or 5 mat o-f tobacco is delivered into a rod forming conveyor and the cigarette paper later lapplied to the rod of tobacco.

The original form of device used in the rod process had the fleece of tobacco delivered upon a conveyor which consisted of three moving belts, one forming the bottom of a rod channel and the other two forming the opposite sides respectively. A frequent arrangement in this machine was to flare the side walls apart at the input end and also in many instances to twist the belts forming the side walls to an oblique angle. In that form of device the side walls of the rod channel were made gradually to converge and at the same time to right themselves to a perpendicular position. This form of channel shapes the rod of tobacco as it conducts it tol the wrapping machine.

In recent forms of construction, however, there is a rod channel of U-shaped cross section into which an endless conveyor belt passes assuming the shape of the channel. .Or alternatively, the rod channel is provided with station-ary side walls and a fiat conveyor belt forms the bottom wall thereof. Frequently the cigarette paper strip is run on the surface of the conveyor belt so that the tobacco is deposited thereon.

The modern cigarette machine has been speeded up and the conveyor belt running in the rod channel must naturally travel at a correspondingly greater speed. When this is done a well known difficulty arises in forming a rod of uniform density for -the tobacco trickling down as a eece is not taken up at once by the fast moving conveyor belt due to its inertia. The result of this slippage is that the tobacco rod formed is irregular and the tobacco tends to pile up or bunch at certain portions rather than to be distributed evenly throughout. Numerous elTorts have been made to correct this defect in high speed machines.

The present invention has for an object the correction of this defect. The fleece or mat of tobacco is formed on a spreader which is in the form of a belt conveyor which is run at right angles to the direction of travel of the rod forming belt and the tobacco is delivered from the edge of the iieece forming belt or spreader. The instant invention provides ymeans between the spreader and the rod channel which will result in y an even deposit of tobacco in the channel.

A further object is to overcome the inertia of the tobacco fleece delivered from the spreader so that it will arrive at the rod channel conveyor' with less resistance to movement in the direction of the wrapping machine.

A further object is to provide a substantially perpendicular'moving wall between the edge of the spreader and the rod forming channel so that the vtobacco fleece delivered froml the spreader comes in Contact with this moving wall 10- and is thus given a velocity in the direction in which the channel conveyor moves.

A stillfurther object consists in providing a simple mechanism yoperable from the moving partsof devices of the form already in use and 15 of simple design and economical construction.

Another object consists in providing the contacting surface of the moving wall with friction devices to increase the'eiiect of the wall on the' tobacco. V l v y f With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be mor-e fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the'drawings, wherein' like symbols refer to 25 like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figurekl is a central vertical section through the part of a cigarette machine to which the invention is applied. 30

Figure 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the device shown in Figure '1.

Figure '3 is acentral vertical section, similar to Figure 1, taken through a modified form of the device.

Figure 4 is another central vertical section through a third modification of the device.

Figure 5 is Ia fragmentary top plan view of the device of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a detailed showing in elevation of o a modified form of the vertical belt used, and

Figure? is a longitudinal Asectiontalken through the 'device along' the line l-l of Figure 6.

Referring particularly rto Figures 1 and 2, the machine isl mounted on any suitable base l5 and 4- includes vertical'end walls I6 and I'l. Journalled in the end walls is a roller |j8 which carries the spreader belt l. A roller similar to I8 is journalled in the opposite end of the machine in a l Inannerlwell known. The upper run ofthe belt 50 l is`disposied'horizontally and receives from a suitable source a rfleeceorfniat of tobacco T. .The manner Ain'which this Aeece is formed is well known in the art jand'formsrno part of the present invention andso is not specifically shown 55 or described herein. A shaft I9 coupled to a suitable driving source of any type is lmounted on the outer side of the wall I6 in a pair of bearings 20. Avertically disposed shaft 2I is mounted on the same side of the wall I6 in a pair of bearings 22 and at its lower end carries a beveled gear 23 which meshes with a beveled gear 24 carried at the end of the shaft I9. The roller I8 is geared to the vertical shaft 2| by means of intermeshing beveled gears or the like so that the conveyor I is driven from the shaft I9.

The lower corners of the end walls I6 and II are cut way to provide a space extending through one side of the machine. A channel forming member 'I is disposed on a bracket 25 in said opening. At opposite ends of the channel forming member I a pair of rollers are mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis. One of such rollers is shown at 26 in Figures 1 and 2. A conveyor belt 8 extends over said rollers and adapts itself to the shape of the channel forming member 'I and is adapted to run in the direction Yof the arrow Z in Figure 2. The drive of the belt 8 is accomplished'by means of a sprocket 21 secured on the shaft 28 extending through the roller 26, a sprocket 29 secured to the shaft I9 and a chain 30 interconnecting the two sprockets. An inner slanted Wall 6 is securedV to the opposite end Walls I6 and I1 and lies between the lower run of the belt I and the inner upper edge of the rod forming conveyor which is composed of the member 'I and the belt 8. Likewise journalled in the end Walls I6 and I'I of the machine is a beater 3 which has prongs or teeth on its surface for the purpose of seizing the iieece of tobacco as it passes over the edge V of the spreader. The beater is driven by means of a spur gear 3| which meshes with a similar gear 32 on the end of the roller I8. The beater 3 rota'tes clockwise in Figure 1 and by its action hurls the particles of tobacco delivered at the point V against the side of an endlessbelt 43 which is led on fthe inner side of the end wall 33 of the machine. As seen in Figure 2, the belt 4 is mounted over a pair of rolls 5 which are themselves vertically mounted on the machine. The roller 5 at the down side of the channel conveyor 8 has a pulley 34 secured thereto. A similar pulley 35 is secured to the vertical shaft 2l and a belt 36 drivingly connects the two pulleys. The belt 43 is driven in the direction of the arrow Z' in Figure 2 so that its inner run which lies inside of the end wall 33 moves in the same direction as the channel belt or conveyor 8.

In the operation of the device above described the fleece of tobacco T is delivered to the point V and the beater 3 projects the particles of tobacco along the lines Y against the moving wall formed by the inside run of the belt 43. The resulting action on the tobacco is to move it in the direction of the arrows W before it comes in contact with the belt 8. Thus the particles are already moving in the direction of the belt 8 and their inertia is overcome. As the particles fall onto the belt 8 they are picked up readily and in a smoothly distributed rod for delivery to the wrapping machine.

Should the texture of the tobacco change or the flow thereof vary, the speed of the belt 43 may be varied with respect to the conveyor 8 so that more or less initial velocity is imparted to the tobacco before it strikes the conveyor. The variation in speed may be accomplished in any of many well known Ways. For instance,

the relative sizes of the pulleys 34 and 35 may be selected to produce the desired ratio of speed.

Figure 3 shows a modification of the device above described in which the impact conveyor belt 4 does notextend the entire distance down to the rod forming channel. The lower end 9 of the end wall 33 and the wall 6 form a chute which guides the particles of tobacco onto the belt 8. It will be noted here that arrows Y are at less of an angle with respect to the plane of the fleece T than in the previous form of the device. Increasing the speed of the beater 3 has this effect and it may be given such a speed so that all of the particles of tobacco will imp-inge upon the moving belt 4.

In the form of the device shown in Figures 4 and 5, the rod forming channel is of a different type. The rod channel I8 is formed here by a vertical inner wall I2 extending from the roller IB to a position just above the upper run of the conveyor II. The outer Wall I3 extends down to a position likewise adjacent the upper run of the belt II. The inside run of the belt 4" is backed or supported by the end wall I3 of the machine and in this form ofthe device the belt 4 is shown as extending almost to the channel conveyor belt II. The'lower end of the inner run of the belt 4" therefore forms one of the sides of the rod channel and it is moved at the same speed as the channel conveyor I I. The other details of the structure are similar to those in the forms previously described.

In place of moving the belts 4' or 4 in a horizontal direction, they may be made to move in an oblique direction with respect to the horizontal. This may be accomplished by tilting the rollers 5 out of their vertical positions so that one end of the belt is higher than the other. Obviously the effect Aof this Will be to increase the reaction given to particles of tobacco striking one of the runs of the belt.

In Figures 6 and 7 the impact belt applied in Figures 1 and 2 is disclosed on an enlarged scale. These figures show an impact belt 43 which is provided on its surface with diagonal ribs I4. These ribs, as shown in Figure`7, extend appreciably beyond the surface of the belt 43. The ribs I4 may be formed of the material of the belt or of rubber or similar elastic material. They result in increasing the gripping power of the belt on the particles of tobacco impinging against the belt. Since the particles of tobacco arev directed against the belt and normally slide down its surface to the rod forming channel, the ribs I4 serve to delay this downward passage and so to inuence the particles to a greater extent with the movement of the lbelt 43. It is obvious that the ribs I4 perform a function which may likewise be performed by numerous other designs in addition to the diagonals shown. A similar effect may be obtained by producing a series of grooves in the impact surface ofI the belt.

It is obvious that various changes and modi fications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restrict/ed only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A tobacco feeding device comprising a tobacco delivery channel, a conveyor disposed in said channel, an endless belt mounted todispose one run only of the belt over one side of the conveyor and being movable in the direction of the conveyor, and a spreader for delivering tobacco against said run of the belt to impart an initial velocity to the tobacco in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said belt being provided with spaced ribs on the operating surface thereof to increase the component of the velocity of the tobacco in the direction of movement of said conveyor.

2. In a tobacco feeding device for cigarette rod forming machines, a-spreader for delivering a mat of tobacco, a belt guiding member having a trough therein positioned to receive tobacco from the spreader, a conveyor disposed in said trough and conforming to the shape thereof adapted to deliver tobacco to said rod forming machine, and an endless belt mounted to dispose one run only thereof over one side of the conveyor and being movable in the direction of movement of said conveyor whereby to deflect tobacco delivered against said run from the spreader, said endless belt being provided With spaced ribs on the operating surface thereof to increase the deflection of tobacco in the direction of movement of said conveyor.

3. A tobacco feeding device comprising a tobacco delivery channel, a conveyor disposed in said channel, an endless belt mounted to dispose one run only of the belt over one side of the conveyor and being movable in the direction of the conveyor, and a spreader for delivering tobacco against said run of the belt to impart an initial velocity to the tobacco in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said belt being provided With spaced ribs on the operating surface thereof to increase the component of the Velocity of the tobacco in the direction of movement of said conveyor, the lower edge of said belt being spaced a substantial distance above the conveyor.

4. A tobacco feeding device comprising a tobacco delivery channel, a conveyor disposed in said channel, an endless belt mounted to dispose one run only of the belt over one side of the conveyor and being movable in the direction of the conveyor, and a spreader for delivering tobacco against said run of the belt to impart an initial velocity to the tobacco in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said belt being provided with spaced ribs on the operating surface thereof to increase the component of the velocity of the tobacco in the direction of movement of said conveyor, said belt extending down substantially to the conveyor to form one side of the delivery channel and projecting overV a portion of the surface of said conveyor.

PAUL JOHANNES HERRMANN. 

